Genesis (The Exodus Trilogy) by Andreas Christensen Read Free Book Online

on the Exodus itself and one held by the rebels, somewhere to the north.
    “How many were there?” he asked. He wondered if anything he said was getting through, as the answer from Henry was unintelligible.
    “…Gone… cover fire had to come… miles away… deadly accurate… more than half of us… amazing body armor… testing defenses… didn’t know… advanced? …kids?” Of course, it had to be the kids, Havelar thought. Supposedly, they were like some super weapon, changed somehow, but he didn’t know how. Their attacks were always ruthless, killing as many as possible, often letting a single survivor get away, to spread the tale of terror. And the rest of the rebels had seemed content to hunt the patrols up north.
    It was strange though, he didn’t think they had the capability to carry out an attack such as this, and neither did Henry, from what he could tell. All encounters with the rebels had been guerilla-style attacks on military personnel and equipment. When they had destroyed the weapons factory, there had been few casualties and little collateral damage. Until now. Something about this attack wasn’t right.
    The attack today out by the shuttle field was different, both from the rebels’ modus operandi of defensive warfare and from the kids’ killing sprees. Long-range, deadly accurate cover fire, and seemingly impenetrable body armor—an attack the security force at the shuttle field hadn’t managed to hold back. They had destroyed two shuttles, a target Havelar hadn’t expected the rebels to go after. And what was the strategic value to them?
    “Warn the outlying posts, right now. I’ll send the colonel,” he replied to the major, although, based on the response, he had no idea if Henry heard him.
    “No answer… Four Bravo down… we’ll hold the…” Havelar inhaled deeply. Then he dialed Colonel Quellar, to have her send a team down to the shuttle field. He needed people there, and a report from Henry that wasn’t all disrupted by messed up comms. The only sound on the handheld was static though. Havelar slowly put it back into his pocket, while considering his options. The colonel would be with the greater force, headed north, away from Fort Andrews, just when she was most needed here. It seemed the attack on the shuttle field had ended, but if the outlying posts were under attack also, it meant a great offensive was imminent. So much for taking the battle to the rebels. He realized the mistake of sending Quellar away, leaving Fort Andrews wide open, expecting Major Carroll to hold the town with green recruits. Damn, everything was happening too fast.
    Maria SOLIS
     
    Maria was limping along, her pain nearly forgotten as she studied the impressive murals on the walls. She had no doubt any more. Though their features were hidden by facemasks—and not the transparent type, like she was wearing—the figures were clearly humanoid. Theories swirled around in her head, too fast to make sense. Could it be that they observed us, and made the paintings to depict us? No, this is old, really old. Too old. Besides, there were some kind of crafts that didn’t look like the shuttles at all. And the way the humanoids and Jujjj’s race greeted each other… they were too familiar. Other humanoids then. Not from Earth. She couldn’t explain it, but the significance of this finding baffled her. Humanoid beings had been here once. And the two races seemed to get along well. It was as if the murals told a story, depicting an entire civilization. Cities, big marvels that sprawled across the landscape, some kind of shuttles, airships that resembled zeppelins. One of the images showed a large group of humanoids entering a spacecraft. They seemed to be waving their goodbyes as they entered. And the… She didn’t know what to call them… She looked at Jujjj and made a motion trying to include more than just him, or her. Then she pointed at herself.
    “Human. Human.” She pointed at him and a few